1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dynamic containment vessels and, in particular, to the maintenance of a stable vortical motion which defines such vessel. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention may be employed as a combustor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic bottles for the confinement of charged particles are well known. The present invention provides an analogue to a magnetic bottle for the containment of a fluid flow and any entrained particles. The present invention has particular application to combustors and will be described with reference thereto.
Vortical flows within combustors are known to the prior art. Typically, such combustors establish a swirling movement within a combustion chamber as by a tangential injection of fuel and entraining gas into the chamber. This swirling motion is often augmented by the tangential injection of gas into the combustion chamber at various locations along the length of the combustion chamber. Such combustors are generally referred to as cyclone combustors, an example of which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,678, issued Dec. 11, 1973, for CYCLONIC TYPE FUEL BURNER.
Among the advantages of the prior art cyclonic type combustors, are relatively long residence times. The nature of the flow into and through the combustion chamber provides significant wall interaction, often resulting in vortical flow. However, these wall interactions produce a high degree of abrasion and/or wall heating as well as corrosion, all of which heavily burdens the wall material.